William wanklyn



ZDF/Kwiki z A964.

PETERS. PHOTO L THOG RAFHE UNITED STATES PATENTy OFFICE.

WILLIAM wANKLYN, or ALBION MILLs, BUR-v, ENGLAND.

IMPROVEMENT lN MACHINES FOR TREATING COMPRESSED COTTON AND OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 41,73l, dated February 23, 1864.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM WANKLYN, of the Albion Mills, Bury, Lancaster, England, cotton-spinner, have made certain new and useful Improvements in Opening and Conditioning Cotton and other Fibrous Substances; and I do hereby declare that the following is a clear and exact description thereof, reference being made to the drawings annexed, forming a part of this specification.

It is well known that cotton and other iibrous materials are somewhat injured by the compression into bales for the purpose of transportation, and it has been found that by the proper action of steam upon the bers they may be restored to their normal condition.

My invention effects this proper action; and it consists in an arrangement ot' the apparatus by which the steam is brought as dry as possible to act upon the bers, thus preventing the moist and soggy character which will be given when the steam is admitted directly into t-he cotton.

I make use of a steaming-chamber supported by trunnions. rIliis chamber has a perforated false bottom and a steam-tight lid, which is suspended to a chain or cord and counterbalanced. Steam is admitted to the chamber by a pipe in which is a tap, and the steam should be at a high pressure. I also apply a siphon or other suitable apparatus to the steam-pipe to prevent the water of condensation entering the chamber with the steam. The cotton, when taken out of the bale, is placed in the chamber, and when full, or nearly so the lid is put on and steam is admitted. As soon as the steam has had time to permeate and heat the cotton, the lid is removed and the steam-chamber is swiveled partly around on its trunnions, to allow the cotton to be raked into a truck or other carriage, in which it is removed to the room in which the subsequent operation is to be performed. A blow-off tap is inserted in the steam-chamber under the false bottom todischarge the water.

In the drawings, Figure l is an elevation, partly in section, ot' my improved apparatus. Fig. 2 is a plan of part of the same. Figs.

3 and 4 are elevations in perspective on a reduced scale.

a is the steaming-chamber, made of sheetiron or other suitable metal or material. The chamber a is supported by the trunnions b on the standards c.

d is the perforated false bottom, and e the lid, of the steamchamber. The lid is made steam-tight by means of a rib on its outer circumference fitting in a recess in the steamchamber, and by the screw c", passing through the cross-bar a. The lid, which may be made steam-tight in any other convenient manner, is counterbalaneed by the weight f, attached to the end of the chain or cord g, passing over suitable guide-pulleys.

Steam, at a pressure of two or three atmospheres, by preference, is admitted to the space between the false bottom d and the bot` tom lof the chamber a, through one of the trunnions b, from the pipe h, in which is the tap i and as it is absolutely essential to the proper working 'of this apparatus that the water of condensation should be excluded from the steam-chamber, I make use ot' the following contrivance: A prolongation of the vertical pipe 7L is secured to the horizontal pipe J, (seen best in Fig. 2,) to one en d of which is fixed the cross-head 7c, and at the other end is a valve, k. rEhe cross-head 7c and valve 7c' are connected by the side rods, l. So long as the steam from the pipe h enters the pipe J, the heat of the steam keeps the pipe expanded to its full length and closes the valve It', but if water accumulates in the pipe j the temperature of the pipe j decreases, consequently the pipe contracts and opens the valve It to allow the water to escape. By this means hot, dry steam is at all times supplied to the chamber a.

At the bottom of the steam-chamber et is the blow-oft tap m, which is opened and closed by the lever n, hinged at o, and provided with a chain or elastic band, lo, the other end of which is secured to the floor or to the framing of the apparatus.

q is a truck or carriage, into which the cotton is removed from the steam-chamber.

sis a self-actin g spring-crutch, and t a sprin g safety-valve for the escape of surplus steam.

The mode of operation is as follows: The cotton, when taken out of the bale, is placed in the steam-chamber a, and when partially iilled the lid e is put on and secured. The

attendant then turns the tap t to admit steam to the chamber. When the s'team has had time to permeate and -heat the cotton, which in general requires about one minute, the supply of steam is shut oft and the lid removed, being raised by the Weightf, so as to be out of the Way of the attendant. The steam-chamber is then swiveled partly around, as shown in Fig. 4. This movement brings the lower edge'of lthe chamber against the self-acting spring-crutch s, which retains the chamber in a slanting position while the attendant, by means of a rakebr'other instrument, removes the cotton from the steam-chamber into the trucker carriageq, in which it is `conveyed `to the blowing-room or otherwise disposed of. While the steamLchamber is beingswiveled over, as above described, the chain p, being tightened, opens `the'bloW-oft tap m vto discharge `the Water of condensation from `the space under the 'false lbottom d, and when the steamlchamber has been emptied `theattendant `liberates the spring-crutch s to allow the chamber "to regain its vertical position for receiving a fresh charge. VADurin g this 'time the be'raud admitting the steam `below the steam will be dry when it comes in contact with the cotton, as above shown.

I claimr.lhe arrangement and construction of the closed steaming-vessel, having a perforated false bottom and receiving the steam below said false bottom, substantially in the manner'and for the purposes set forth WILLIAM WANKLYN.

Witnesses:

H. B. BARLOW,

Patent agent, Manchester. JOHN PERKINS,

Mechanical dwfftsmaot, Manchester. 

